Mill Creek Councilman Mark Harmsworth Will Run to Replace Retiring State Rep. Mike Hope in 44th Leg District

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State Rep. Mike Hope (R-Lake Stevens) will retire at the end of his third term, a decision made Thursday that was quickly followed with an announcement that Mill Creek Councilman Mark Harmsworth will run in next year’s election to replace him and keep a Republican in the seat.

Harmsworth will seek to apply his experience working in the tech sector to reducing government waste and freeing up funding for education and other needed services.

“The annual cuts to education, increased class sizes and the waste we see in government have to stop,” said Harmsworth in his official announcement. “We can fully fund our schools. We can expand health care to those who do not have it without breaking what we already have.”

“Here in Washington, we have always led the world in innovation and ideas,” said Harmsworth. “Unfortunately, that spirit of innovation has not found its way into state government.”

Harmsworth and his wife moved to the US from England two decades ago to ride the technology wave that resulted in a lengthy career with Microsoft and a recent move to Amazon. Since coming to the US, they have become citizens and raised a family of three in Washington.

Their journey has afforded Harmsworth a unique perspective that is enhanced by an impressive record of civil service. In addition to his two terms on the Mill Creek City Council, Harmsworth serves as Vice President of Snohomish Cities and Towns and is on the Board of Directors of the Everett Community College Foundation Board.

“If Olympia doesn’t change priorities,” said Harmsworth, “then we will go the way of Europe. I didn’t leave there 20 years ago just to go back to that.”

In addition to his experience on the Mill Creek Council, Harmsworth “knows the dirt” in the 44th, as they say, having run to represent the district in 2012. In that year, Harmsworth gave entrenched Democratic state Rep. Hans Dunshee a run for his money. Dunshee went back to Olympia to be appointed Chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, but only after achieving his smallest margin of victory in recent years.

Harmsworth’s campaign experience should be a positive factor as well as his endorsement by Hope considering the outgoing legislator’s popularity among voters.

Hope – a Seattle police officer, former Marine and aspiring actor – began serving in the state House in 2008 in a close race but since has been a difficult Republican to beat in Snohomish County’s tricky political landscape. Hope, however, confided to The Everett Herald’s Jerry Cornfield in June his uncertainty about a making future bid after a grueling 2013 legislative calendar that included one regular and three special sessions.

Read Harmsworth’s entire official release here:

Mill Creek Councilman Mark Harmsworth announced today he will run for the State House to replace the retiring Rep. Mike Hope.

Hope announced he will not seek re-election in 2014 and has endorsed Harmsworth.

“My wife and I moved here from England nearly 20 years ago as part of the tech industry boom,” said Harmsworth. “We became U.S. citizens, had three kids and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest.”

Harmsworth said state leaders should stop thinking in terms of which tough choices to make in terms of government priorities and focus on building the economy.

“The annual cuts to education, increased class sizes and the waste we see in government have to stop,” said Harmsworth. “We can fully fund our schools. We can expand health care to those who do not have it without breaking what we already have.”

Harmsworth said he will bring fresh ideas to Olympia from his experiences at Microsoft and Amazon.

“Why do we keep hearing that we must either cut school funding or increase taxes?” said Harmsworth. “Legislators should focus on improving the economy which will increase state revenues and solve the funding problem.

“Here in Washington, we have always led the world in innovation and ideas,“ said Harmsworth. “Unfortunately, that spirit of innovation has not found its way into state government.”

Harmsworth, his wife Sarah, and their three children live in Mill Creek. He is a two term City Councilmember, Vice-president of Snohomish Cities and Towns and is on the Board of Directors of the Everett Community College Foundation Board. Harmsworth has recently joined Amazon after a long career with Microsoft.

“If Olympia doesn’t change priorities,” said Harmsworth, “then we will go the way of Europe. I didn’t leave there 20 years ago just to go back to that.”

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Bryan has been writing about local and national politics since 2008. In addition to writing for The Northwest Daily Marker (nwdailymarker.com) – the digital journal of politics he launched in 2011 – he has been published by American Thinker, Crosscut, Red State and the Everett Herald and explosive stories broken by The Northwest Daily Marker have generated headlines in regional, national and international major media.
Bryan is a lifelong Washingtonian and a proud University of Washington alumnus.